Hypertension

July 8, 2014 | Technology Forecasts

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High blood pressure (BP), or hypertension, is a common condition in which the force of the blood against artery walls is high enough to elicit health problems. BP is determined by the amount of blood the heart pumps and the amount of resistance flow in the arteries. The more volume of blood the heart pumps and the narrower the arteries, the higher the BP.1 Patients with BP higher than 140/90 mm Hg are considered to be hypertensive, which predisposes them to other life-threatening conditions (e.g., heart attack, stroke, kidney failure).2

According to the American Heart Association, about 76.4 million people, or 1 in 3 adults, have hypertension in the United States.3,4 Women are about as likely as men to develop hypertension during their lifetimes. However, for people younger than 45 years of age, the condition affects more men than women, and for people older than age 65 years, it affects more women than men.4 Prevalence of hypertension varies by ethnicity, affecting more African Americans at a younger age. About 43% of African-American men and 46% of African-American women have...

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